Pesto

I mentioned a few days ago that eating less meat is a great way to do something positive for the environment. Well, a friend of mine emailed me and mentioned that she doesn't know many vegetarian meals and asked for some of my favorites. Of course, I am happy to share them, hopefully you will try them and let me know what you think.

Walnut-Basil Pesto is a favorite in our house. This recipe is based off of one from "The Omega Diet". It is healthy due to all of the "good" fats from the olive oil and walnuts. But more than that it tastes great and is super easy. You don't need much pesto to flavor your pasta so this recipe will make enough for at least two meals. You can freeze whatever you have left and then just leave it on the counter for a few minutes to defrost the next time you want to use it.

Walnut-Basil Pesto

2 cups packed basil leaves

1/3 cup of olive oil

1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

2 small cloves of garlic, minced or crushed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Place basil, walnuts, garlic and salt into a food processor and pulse a few times. Once all the ingredients are chopped turn the food processor on and stream in the olive oil. Blend until finely chopped and well combined.

2. Just before serving add about 2 tbsp of hot pasta water from the cooked pasta to the pesto. (Only add the pasta water to the pesto that you plan to eat right away. Separate any pesto that you want to save for later).

3. Mix it with pasta and enjoy. My favorite pasta to eat this with is tortellini but it is also great on whole wheat pastas, the strong flavor of the pesto covers up much of the wheat flavor in the whole wheat pasta (if that bothers you).

I usually serve my pasta with garlic bread and salad and then plan to have roasted veggie sandwiches later that same week because this pesto is great on a sandwich. I will post pictures of the sandwiches later. I hope you like this pesto recipe.